The Sweet Reason Referee Sarah Thomas Wore an Angel Pin Over Her Heart at the Super Bowl
The Sweet Reason Referee Sarah Thomas Wore an Angel Pin Over Her Heart at the Super Bowl
It’s not the first time her mom has had her wear the pin.
Sarah Thomas made history on Sunday when she became the first female referee at the Super Bowl.
The 43-year-old mother of three spoke with Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on Today Wednesday about how much her groundbreaking accomplishments mean to her family.
Thomas said that her parents, who could not attend the showdown between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs due to COVID-19 restrictions, gave her a note with an angel pin.
"Wear this angel somewhere on your uniform and know we are with you in spirit!" the handwritten note from her mom read. "Have a great game! Love you."
Thomas, who was born and raised in Pascagoula, Mississippi, said that it's not the first time her mother had her wear the vintage angel pin.
"She pinned a little angel on my shirt when I was 18, a freshman in college," she told Guthrie and Kotb. "And she told me that she couldn't be there with me all the time, but she would be with me in spirit and that God would be watching over me, so she found that angel and she pinned it like you see on that note and it just said that they wouldn't be there with me in person, but if I would just wear in on my uniform, and I did, right underneath on my heart, on my little undershirt."
Thomas is no stranger to breaking down barriers. She became the first full-time female official in the NFL in 2015 and the first woman to referee a major college football game in 2007.
She said she couldn't have done it without her parents.
"I just have to commend my mother and father for laying such a wonderful Christian foundation for all of us at home and just never depend on anybody for anything and hold yourself accountable," Thomas said. "Don't make excuses."
